Centre for Medicines Discovery, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Biosciences Institute, The Medical School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2022 Jul;29(7):628-638. doi: 10.1038/s41594-022-00799-3. Epub 2022 Jul 14.
Glycogen synthase (GYS1) is the central enzyme in muscle glycogen biosynthesis. GYS1 activity is inhibited by phosphorylation of its amino (N) and carboxyl (C) termini, which is relieved by allosteric activation of glucose-6-phosphate (Glc6P). We present cryo-EM structures at 3.0-4.0 Å resolution of phosphorylated human GYS1, in complex with a minimal interacting region of glycogenin, in the inhibited, activated and catalytically competent states. Phosphorylations of specific terminal residues are sensed by different arginine clusters, locking the GYS1 tetramer in an inhibited state via intersubunit interactions. The Glc6P activator promotes conformational change by disrupting these interactions and increases the flexibility of GYS1, such that it is poised to adopt a catalytically competent state when the sugar donor UDP-glucose (UDP-glc) binds. We also identify an inhibited-like conformation that has not transitioned into the activated state, in which the locking interaction of phosphorylation with the arginine cluster impedes subsequent conformational changes due to Glc6P binding. Our results address longstanding questions regarding the mechanism of human GYS1 regulation.
糖原合酶 1(GYS1)是肌肉糖原生物合成的关键酶。其氨基(N)和羧基(C)末端的磷酸化会抑制 GYS1 的活性,而葡萄糖-6-磷酸(Glc6P)的别构激活可以解除这种抑制。我们展示了 3.0-4.0Å分辨率的冷冻电镜结构,解析了磷酸化的人源 GYS1 与糖原核心结合蛋白最小相互作用区复合物在抑制、激活和催化活性状态下的结构。不同的精氨酸簇感知特定末端残基的磷酸化,通过亚基间相互作用将 GYS1 四聚体锁定在抑制状态。Glc6P 激活剂通过破坏这些相互作用来促进构象变化,并增加 GYS1 的灵活性,从而使其在糖供体 UDP-葡萄糖(UDP-glc)结合时能够进入催化活性状态。我们还鉴定了一种抑制样构象,它尚未过渡到激活状态,其中磷酸化与精氨酸簇的锁定相互作用阻碍了 Glc6P 结合后随后的构象变化。我们的结果解决了关于人源 GYS1 调控机制的长期存在的问题。